Red Oak

Reliant roots, sturdy, stretching swiftly far and wide

though not too deep. Reaching out

into

my

world: entwining

myself with my surrounding family, e x pan d i ng into my community,

embracing my friends. Absorbing the best of my surroundings,

nourishing my soul and sentience.

Supporting

whoever

needs

it, lending strength

without discrimination.

Scorning the harmful advances of the unworthy.

In this wobbly world, strong roots make for stable footing.

Ardent heart

at the very center.

Enduring, sinewy, and steady.

Supporting what my roots

cannot, ready to cherish and

love

with al it can.

A heart strong enough to stand

on its own

against tempestuous storms

and emotions

yet

delicate

enough to be broken.

Such a sweet

strong

supportive

heart surrounded

by peculiarly hard

and protective

bark.

Particularly beautiful?

In the most conventional ways,

no.

The other trees,

they are taller and shorter, skinnier with slender arms,

they have more delicate branches,

or smooth leaves.

Those other trees are

more common and this one...

This one finds itself overlooked.

Often overlooked.

But someone would like

this individual oak

to see its own beauty,

even if only once in a while.

Those initials carved along

the oak's trunk proving an everlasting

love. Sometimes the oak can,

given enough love.

External internal

eternal beauty.

It can

see.

If only this oak could also see how tall and proud it stands:

bending away from the destructive gales of this changing world;

never yielding or breaking down, always surviving, day after day.

If only this oak would see.